Articles

Ever since the idea of sustainable development was proposed, how to achieve it has always been the focus of researchers and policymakers. At the same time, in the letters of sustainable development, two approaches of weak sustainability and strong sustainability have been mentioned; Two approaches with different assumptions suggest different policies and will have different consequences. On the other hand, with the increase of environmental concerns in recent decades, the concept of natural capital and physical, human, and social capital has been added to the common literature of economics. Recently, with the collection of data related to the natural capital of nations by the World Bank, the possibility of statistical studies in this field has been provided. In the form of several regression models and at the international level, the present study will analyze the most fundamental difference between the two approaches of weak sustainability and strong sustainability, i.e., the possibility or impossibility of replacing physical capital instead of natural capital. The study results show that natural capital has a direct, positive, and independent role in explaining sustainable development indicators. Even the addition of physical, human, and social capital indicators does not threaten the significant coefficient of natural capital. Therefore, it can be concluded that under the assumption of a strong sustainability model, other types of capital can not replace natural capital.